Identification and financial documents, such as financial (e.g. credit and debit) cards, drivers' licenses, national identification cards, and other cards, as well as passports and the like, are well known. These types of documents are often provided with data, graphics or a combination thereof composed of printed characters and/or images printed onto the documents using a printer. An example of a suitable printer for printing a card is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,431.
Many of these types of printers utilize a print ribbon that provides the ink or dye used to produce the data or graphics. These ribbons need to be replaced as they are used up. However, replacement of the ribbon can be difficult, especially for those who are inexperienced or unfamiliar with the printer. It is not unknown for operators of such printers to incorrectly position the take-up cylinder where the supply cylinder is intended to be positioned, and vice-versa, or to try to position the supply and take-up cylinders at incorrect positions within the printer. In addition, the supply and take-up cylinders can be positioned upside down in the printer so that the ribbon is in the wrong wind direction (e.g. unwound from the supply cylinder and wound onto the take-up cylinder from the bottom of the cylinders rather than from the top).
Similar difficulties exist for other supply items, for example webs that carry laminate patches, cleaning tape or ribbon, holographic overlays, and other exhaustible web materials, used in equipment for producing identification and financial documents.
There is a need for improvements to facilitate loading of supply items into data bearing identification or financial document production equipment.